In Defense of Ska Ep 113: David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, The Bubblemen)

Before David J discovered David Bowie & T-Rex--the artists that inspired him to play music for a living--he fell in love with ska/rocksteady/reggae. As a young teen, David J snuck into skinhead clubs where he fell in love with reggae's deep bass vibrations, and got to see the slick fashion and vibrant dance moves associated with the subculture. Years later, he brought elements of ska and reggae into his band, Bauhaus. 

Today, we speak to Bauhaus bassist David J. And we go deep into reggae. He tells us which Trojan comp was the first album he ever owned, what it's been like to DJ in recent years and throw some reggae songs into his set ("to perplexed goths"). We talk about David's experiences with reggae and ska in the UK in the '70s and 80s. We also discuss the dub and reggae influences in Bauhaus music, and he tells us how influential Roots Radic bassist Errol "Flabba" Holt was on his bass playing style. 

David also tells us hilarious stories about meeting two of his idols in the 80s. Bauhaus met Iggy Pop during their first trip to New York in 1980 (Iggy heckled them, but later told them they were awesome). A few years later, they met David Bowie on the set of The Hunger. David tells us about his private moment with Bowie which he refers to as receiving some "Bowie Magic." 

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If you like our theme song, go download the EP Lives by Slow Gherkin. They wrote the opening and closing songs for our podcast. You can get both tunes from their Lives EP. Also, check out Dan P and the Bricks two LPs. They provided the mid-roll ad transition music. 

Support the In Defense host Aaron Carnes by purchasing a copy of his book, In Defense of Ska. The 2nd, expanded edition of In Defense of Ska will release in Oct 2024. 

Co-host Adam Davis has a band called Omnigone. Their latest record, Against The Rest released on March 31, 2023. 

The In Defense of Ska editor Chris Reeves runs a record label called Ska Punk International. They have new releases coming out all the time.

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